


more than friction

by that_one_urchin



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Mutual Pining, Secret Crush, Sharing a Bed, no landon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:59:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25885456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_one_urchin/pseuds/that_one_urchin
Summary: Spring break is coming up, and while Lizzie Saltzman will be returning with a boyfriend, Josie Saltzman is doomed to go back home, desperate and alone. She hatches a plan at three in the morning - get Hope Mikaelson to be her fake girlfriend for all of the break.The catch? Josie had a crush on Hope for all of high school, and old feelings may just resurface.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Lizzie Saltzman/Sebastian
Comments: 55
Kudos: 338





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Landon is dead, both here and in canon :)

When Lizzie calls, Josie answers on the fourth ring.

“What took you so long?” Lizzie immediately demands, sounding more impatient than ever. The same can’t be said for Josie, who is still not totally alert or awake.

“Time zones, Lizzie.” Josie reminds her. Her throat is scratchy with disuse, her voice an octave lower than usual. She checks the clock on her nightstand - three in the morning. Damn it. “What’s up? How’s Italy?”

While her sister rambles on about the food there and her classes, Josie rolls onto her back. She faces the ceiling, watching it slip in and out of her vision slowly as she tries to get a hold on her consciousness. The bed is too comfortable, the room too dark, and Josie is extremely aware of how exhausted she is.

“And I met someone!” Lizzie says, at the end of her long-winded report of how her week went.

_That_ gets Josie’s attention.

“What? Who?”

“His name is Sebastian.” She gushes. If Josie closes her eyes, she can imagine Lizzie across the world, smile wide and blinding as she prattles on about this mystery guy. “I think he’s the hottest man I’ve ever met. I’m texting you his Instagram handle now…”

Shortly after, Josie feels her phone vibrate in her hand. The screen lights up, Lizzie’s message flashing across the top. _Sebastian_Hayes._ Josie clicks on the notification and opens the app, his profile popping up instantly.

Holy shit.

Normally, Lizzie exaggerates when describing her boyfriends attractiveness, but this guy looks like he was born in a gym and never left it. He has multiple shirtless pictures, along with a few of himself at a fancy college campus. The latest photo is Sebastian at a crowded bar, his muscled arm around Lizzie while she throws her head back, mid-laugh.

Sebastian is almost frustratingly handsome, from his chiseled jaw to the sharp cheekbones and the piercing blue eyes. Lizzie fits into his side easily, only an inch or two shorter than him, her grin so wide that Josie can almost hear the echo of her laughter.

They look like the perfect couple.

Underneath all of the happiness Josie feels for her sister, she also feels a secret pang of jealousy. It’s been months since Josie has had anything more than a one night stand.

“I think I’m going to bring him home for spring break.” Lizzie admits, then continues with a bit less excitement. “What about you? Are you dating anyone?”

No.

Josie’s love life could be described in many different words - nonexistent, abysmal, absent.

Somehow, Lizzie must know this, because she keeps on going before Josie can answer. “You should really try to move on, Jo. It’s been a year since you broke up with She Who Will Not Be Named. You should find someone new.”

“I _have_ moved on.” Josie snaps unexpectedly, memories of Penelope making her irrational.

It is much too late for Josie to deal with this conversation. This has all only served to remind her that she will have to return home in a week, back to Mystic Falls, and back to her family. Her family, who will more than likely pity her for not having a date while Lizzie strolls in with the Calvin Klein model.

Seriously, how did Lizzie find this guy? He’s almost the most good-looking person Josie has ever seen. Almost.

Hope Mikaelson still exists.

“Oh?” Lizzie questions. “So you’re dating someone?”

“Of course.” Josie lies right through her teeth.

Thinking of Hope, Josie switches over to the girl’s profile. She only follows it because they went to high school together, although Josie doesn’t know if the account is even active, considering Hope hasn’t posted a single photo. The one thing that gives her away is the tagged pictures, of which there are three.

Number one seems to have been taken without Hope noticing. Two people stand in the foreground, a blonde boy and a redhead, both smiling at the camera. Meanwhile, in the background, Hope sits against an oak tree, her figure blurry but her attention clearly on the book in her lap.

Number two has Hope slightly more in focus, only half of her body shown as Rafael Waithe (another boy from Mystic Falls High) pulls her in by the waist while they stand in the middle of a random party. Hope is scowling, clearly forced into the photo, but from what Josie can see she looks pretty, presumably dressed up for the event.

Number three is the best, because Hope actually has a smile on her face in this one. It’s a simple image, really, of Hope painting something. The canvas can’t be seen due to the angle, but Hope is art in herself. She looks lighter here, younger, her cheeks round and her eyes shining. Her beauty is obvious but different than before - here it seems close to innocent, other times nearly sinful.

Josie silently wonders what lucky bastard got to take the picture.

“ _Well?_ Are you going to tell me who?” Lizzie asks, as if she has been waiting an eternity. In reality, it has only been ten seconds.

“Hope Mikaelson.” Josie blurts, still caught in a daze.

“ _Hope Mikaelson?!_ ” Lizzie yells into the phone, causing Josie to flinch and simultaneously blink out of her trance. “The girl you had a crush on for all of high school? _That_ Hope Mikaelson? Are you bringing her for the break?”

“Y-Yes?”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

What is she doing? Josie is pretty sure that Hope has no clue who she is. They spoke once, back in sophomore year. She barely remembers the interaction, knowing it lasted for all of a second when Hope accidentally bumped into her and left with a mumbled _sorry_.

They are far from dating. Far from being friends or even acquaintances.

As far as Josie knows, the only thing they have in common is their choice of schools. Same high school, same college.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lizzie all but shrieks.

“I, uh, forgot.” Josie chuckles nervously. She knows she can’t turn back now. “Plus, Hope is a private person.”

This doesn’t deter Lizzie. “Spill. Everything.”

“I can’t right now. I have to go.” Another lie. Josie usually prides herself on telling the truth, but she keeps flashing back to the same thought.

She doesn’t want to be alone.

Getting cheated on by Penelope Park had been humiliating. The action in itself was bad, but the following days of fake sympathy and pitied words from everyone around her made it worse. She hated how people treated her in those days, as if she was a fragile baby bird and not an adult. It almost hurt more than the heartbreak.

“No, you don’t.” Lizzie insists. “It’s three in the morning over there.”

Oh, so Lizzie _does_ understand time zones.

“That’s exactly why I have to leave. I have stuff to do in the morning. Talk to you later.” Josie hangs up before Lizzie can say another word or ask any more questions about Hope.

Now fully awake and aware of her actions, Josie begins to panic. The only movement her body can seem to make is with her hands, which start to tremble. She stares ahead, the darkness of her bedroom providing no comfort, the first hint of anxiety swelling beneath her skin. It presses up against her rib cage, firm and unyielding, and Josie finds it hard to draw a proper breath.

What did she just do? Hope is never going to go out with her. Even if she did, spring break is in a week. That isn’t nearly enough time to get Hope to meet her family.

The other option - the _smart_ option - is to call Lizzie back and play this all off as a bad joke.

Josie considers that for a while, until she realizes how weird and pathetic it would make her look. She can’t do that either. Somehow, she needs to find a way to get Hope to come home with her. It technically shouldn’t be too hard. She assumes that Hope is returning to Mystic Falls anyways, so at least they’ll be close to each other.

Of course, Hope being in town doesn’t mean that Hope will automatically be in town _with_ Josie.

What is she supposed to do about that?

Then, Josie gets an idea. A stupid, bad idea, but an idea nonetheless.

Looking down at her phone, Josie scrolls back up to the top of Hope’s profile. Her email is in her bio, but it very clearly says _business inquires only_. This is sort of a business inquiry, isn’t it?

Determined, Josie turns on the lamp by her bed and gets her laptop off of the nightstand. Within a minute, Josie is prepared to send Hope an email.

She types:

_Hi! I don’t know if you remember me, but we went to high school together. I’m Josie Saltzman. Tonight I fucked up-_

Josie pauses, wondering if Hope is okay with her swearing. It doesn’t seem very professional and this is supposed to be a business inquiry, so she deletes it and retypes.

Back to the email.

_Hi! I don’t know if you remember me, but we went to high school together. I’m Josie Saltzman. Tonight I messed up really badly and I kind of told my sister that you and I are dating. Don’t worry, I know we’re not. I don’t know why I lied, but I assume you’re going back to Mystic Falls for spring break. This might sound really weird, but I wanted to know if you would do me a huge favor and pretend to be my girlfriend for the break._

_THIS IS NOT A SEX THING._

_I don’t want anything physical from you, nor do I want to make you uncomfortable. You could set all of the boundaries… assuming you say yes. If you did I would be very, very grateful. Thank you in advance if you even read this far._

There. Done.

That doesn’t sound too pervy. Hopefully, Hope will see how desperate Josie is and take her up on the offer.

She briefly wonders if she should offer to pay Hope, but that could come across as sleazy and, besides, Josie knows that Hope’s family is rich. The Mikaelson’s house is the second biggest one in town, after the Salvatores. Money probably wouldn’t affect Hope’s decision, and as a college student, Josie doesn’t have much to share.

After reading it over twice, Josie hits send.

-

“You’re insane.” Her roommate, Jade, laughs at her the next morning when Josie retells the story.

The kitchen is a mess, traces of their breakfast showing everywhere. Several dishes and utensils are buried under the lukewarm, soapy water in the sink. Bowls, plates, forks, and spoons. The whole shebang. Saturday morning pancakes tend to get out of control, especially when Josie wants both blueberries and chocolate chips, and after the night she had, she is in no mood to worry about her diet.

As a result, Josie has stuffed her mouth full of five pancakes and downed two cups of coffee. She may be stress eating, just a little.

“I know.” Josie stabs her fork through a syrupy chunk of pancake.

Unlike Josie, Jade seems incredibly amused by Josie’s choices. She was laughing so much earlier that Josie threatened to stop telling her, but Jade could compose herself and Josie needed to admit everything to someone or she’d burst.

Jade continues, “Hope isn’t going to say yes.”

“I know.”

“You’re going to have to tell Lizzie the truth.”

“I _know._ ”

“Has she emailed you back?” Jade asks, and this time Josie pauses.

It seems too early for Hope to reply, if she even chooses to respond at all. Honestly, Josie feels like not checking her mail until she absolutely has to, but that would only be prolonging the inevitable. It also seems that Jade has decided for her, if the way she unsubtly leaves the room and returns with Josie’s laptop is anything to go by.

“Fine, fine.” She concedes reluctantly, taking her property back from Jade. Josie starts to type in her password. “For the record, I don’t think she’d respond yet. It’s a Saturday and it’s sort of early. Hope probably isn’t up.”

Apparently, Hope _is_ awake and has been for long enough to reply.

Josie stares at the response in shock, not yet opening it, but reading over the preview of the first line. She feels as if she is dreaming. Under the passive look of indifference Josie has on for Jade, her mind is reeling, her heart fluttering like the butterflies that have found their way into her stomach.

She clicks on the email.

It reads:

_Clarke’s Bar and Grill. Saturday. 3pm. Don’t be late._

Is that really all Hope has to say?

Josie traces the simple message multiple times, as if doing so will make more words appear on her screen. Since Josie isn’t a witch or anything, the words do not shift because of her staring at them, no matter how intense her gaze is. She is hesitant to admit that she wants more from Hope, more than her own offer entails.

Memories of her high school crush on Hope flash behind her eyelids, years of awkwardly trying to work up the courage to talk to the other girl and failing time and time again.

Josie shakes her head, wishing the thoughts would fade from her mind after all this time. The fact that she can so clearly recall long hours in class spent repeatedly doodling Hope’s name in the blank margins of her notebook is borderline embarrassing.

Despite being twenty years old, Josie feels no older than fourteen with how the memories present themselves at the forefront of her mind.

She still wouldn’t mind actually dating Hope or, at least, being friends, but Hope seems content to stay as aloof as always.

This is so like her.

Or is it?

Josie doesn’t really know, because, again, she doesn’t really know Hope - but maybe this will give her a chance to.

“Are you okay?” Jade asks, now standing closer than she was before. Startled, Josie bats her away. “You’ve been really quiet for a long time.”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She finally waves a hand at her screen, allowing Jade to read it.

Whether or not Hope’s answer is a yes or a no is unclear, but the fact that she agreed to meet up is promising.

“That’s all?” Jade voices Josie’s thoughts. “That message is sort of creepy. It sounds like she’s planning on killing you. That’s a serial killer email. No hello or anything.”

“That’s just how Hope is.” Josie shrugs, lifting her shoulders minutely.

It feels nice to say _that’s just how Hope is,_ as if Josie has any idea of how Hope is. It feels nice to pretend, even if Jade doesn’t seem to care much. She owes the little things to her lovesick, teenage self.

“Just be careful.” Jade advises, a slight hint of genuine concern in her voice.

“I will, mom.”

“And eat your vegetables.” Jade teases further. She leaves the kitchen, coffee cup in hand, and Josie makes sure that she is alone before she turns back to the screen.

Clarke’s Bar and Grill. Saturday. 3pm.

Josie brands it into her memory. She has eight hours.

-

Seven hours and fifty-five minutes later, Josie sits alone in Clarke’s Bar and Grill, possibly more nervous than she has ever been in her entire life.

Unfortunately, Josie is beginning to think that Jade was right in her assessment of Hope possibly attempting to murder her. The bar she insisted on is, honestly, sort of creepy. For one thing, only a handful of people are here - less than ten, including the employees and Josie, and none of them appear to know how to smile or make eye contact.

The building is warm in temperature but cold in atmosphere, somehow managing to make her feel uneasy in a matter of minutes.

If it weren’t for the situation, Josie would leave hurriedly, but she is too desperate to bail, so she orders a glass of water and sits down at a dusty table that faces the front door. The shock of Hope agreeing to meet wore off around the two hour mark, replaced by the knowledge that she needs to make a good impression on Hope if she wants her to agree.

With that in mind, Josie showered beforehand, brushed her hair profusely, and is now dressed in her best skirt - the black one, that falls mid-thigh. Not too revealing, but not too modest either. She needs everything to go smoothly.

The odds are sort of stacked against her. Her teenage years were… pitiful, to say the least. If Hope happens to remember Josie’s red-faced gawking, then Josie is probably already screwed.

Hopefully, Hope has a bad memory.

Josie sips her drink and eyes the door, nerves bubbling up inside her body, until it finally opens. At three o’clock exactly, Hope Mikaelson walks into the restaurant, and, at the same time, Josie chokes on her drink, sputtering water all over herself.

Of course, these two actions have no correlation to one another. Nope. No correlation at all.

Her head swerves from left to right, in search of a napkin, while Hope slowly mimics the movement, instead in search of Josie. Josie, who swipes her sleeve along her damp skin, and curses this shitty establishment for not putting napkins at the tables.

She feels paralyzed. Frozen. Her mind almost can’t register that Hope has clearly seen her and is coming right towards her. Every soft, adoring thought Josie has ever had about Hope jolts to the front of her brain, but she clamps her mouth shut and swallows them down before Hope gets to her.

“Hi.” Hope stands near the edge of the table, quietly inspecting her. Josie discreetly hides her stained sleeve under the table. “You’re… Josie, right? You emailed me?”

“Yeah.” Josie nods and, as soon as Hope hears the confirmation, she sits across from her.

Underneath the table, Josie is anxiously fiddling with her skirt, fingers plucking at the hem. Above the table, she pulls her lips from the straw and grins sheepishly at Hope. In return, Hope smiles right back - less nervous, more polite.

Maybe this could work out alright.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one’s short but other chapters will be longer

It’s been a solid minute and Josie is completely sure that this arrangement will not work out well.

The humiliating part is that it’s not even Hope’s fault. Actually, Hope is perfect. She speaks to the waiter extremely politely and treats Josie just the same, smiling despite Josie’s awkward silence. She somehow manages to look attractive in the simplest of clothing - a faded pair of blue jeans and a loose, well-worn shirt. She even sits down gracefully.

The problem is Josie.

Josie considers herself to be a kind, sociable person. She makes friends with everyone, even the cold-hearted and grim. Once, while in middle school, Josie was actually named the friendliest person in her class. Seriously. She got a badge and everything.

Yet, when faced with Hope Mikaelson, all Josie can think is _girl pretty_ and _pretty girl._

And she definitely can’t say that.

“So…” Hope says, after a while of her sitting and Josie just staring uselessly, feeling a ridiculous amount of panic over such a small interaction. “You’re not a serial killer or anything, are you?”

“No. Not a serial killer.” Josie assures her. Shit. Is this what she has become? The weirdo on the internet?

Jade is definitely going to make fun of her later when she returns home, girlfriend-less and sad.

The self-pity begins to bubble up inside of Josie prematurely. She has to take a deep breath (not literally, since Hope is watching her) and remind herself that this whole meeting isn’t over. In fact, it has barely lasted for more than five minutes. Six minutes, at the most. Josie just needs to find some way to relax a little.

She won’t lie, the thought of ordering alcohol crosses her mind for a second there, but doing shots in front of Hope probably wouldn’t make the best first impression.

So.

Deep breaths.

“It’s just…” Josie sighs and shifts around to be in a more comfortable position. “My family is a lot. There’s a lot of us, which means there’s also a lot of couples. Wait. Not like that—“

_Oh my god._

“—I just mean that I have tons of aunts and uncles, and they’re great, don’t get me wrong, I love them, but it’s a lot to live up to.” She admits, sipping her water once she is done talking, sort of wishing it was bourbon. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to unload on you or anything.”

Hope seems to be thinking over something, if the look on her face is anything to go by. Actually, it’s the only thing to go by. Hope is rather quiet, too.

After a moment, Hope sits up and does an odd twisting motion to get her phone out of her tiny, pants pocket. She unlocks it and swipes around for a little bit before hesitantly extending it out to Josie, not for her to take, but for her to look. The picture on the screen shows seven people, each of them appearing to be around the same age, with pale, barely-wrinkled skin and dramatic, sharp features.

They all look vaguely familiar.

“That’s my dad.” Hope explains, pointing to a man on the screen with clear blue eyes, same as hers. “And those are his six siblings.”

The Mikaelsons.

Josie has only seen them from afar or in passing, walking around Mystic Falls in her high school days. Like Hope, they mostly kept to themselves. She knows they came to the occasional dance or town meeting, but really didn’t participate much in festivities unless it was necessary. The whole family seemed to roll through the town like a faint gust of wind, barely felt and rarely seen.

Eventually, Hope leans back and tucks her phone away, and Josie doesn’t protest, though she does want to see more. She just doesn’t want to pry too soon, especially if Hope is willing to do any of this with her.

“I know how big families can affect you.” Hope says, to drive home her point, and smiles almost shyly. Her lips look a tad strained at the edges.

Oh.

Josie hadn’t thought for a second that Hope may be in the same boat as her and that is why she is here. That would explain a lot, actually, since the initial email Josie sent her was terribly worded and all kinds of embarrassing.

“Okay.” Josie switches gears, sensing that they are in the need for a subject change. “So, how would we do this?”

Hope raises her eyebrows. “ _You_ emailed _me_.”

“Well yeah, technically, but you can pick all the rules if you want.” If this were anyone else, she might have a select set of boundaries, but this is Hope, and Josie wouldn’t mind holding, kissing, or touching her during the trip. She wouldn’t mind dating Hope for real, either.

Whatever Hope is comfortable with.

“I’m not too big on PDA, but I guess hand holding and kissing on the cheek is okay, if that’s fine with you.” Hope glances up at Josie, most likely to get confirmation from her, and pauses when she catches Josie with her phone out, genuinely taking notes.

“What?” Josie needs to be prepared. It’s best to write stuff down and stay organized.

A small smile stretches Hope’s lips and all of a sudden she looks close to actually laughing. It takes Josie off-guard, but she tries not to stare too long or pout. She can’t believe she nearly gets Hope to laugh and it’s at her own expense.

“Nothing.” Hope shakes her head. “Okay, none of that super lovey baby talk stuff…”

They spend the next half hour discussing their limits, which sounds a bit like a scene out of Fifty Shades of Grey, but it isn’t.

It turns out, Hope isn’t a very touchy person but she doesn’t mind holding hands for long periods of time or small displays of affection. She hates long speeches, due to an ex-boyfriend that used to feed her empty love confessions, but she says she can operate more with tiny gestures. Buying food for each other, offering up a shoulder to fall asleep on, everything they would need to do publicly to make the Mikaelsons believe they’re really dating.

They both are okay with kissing in front of their respective families as long as there’s no tongue, and neither one of them want to linger around family gatherings for longer than necessary. It sounds like Hope’s relatives are just as chaotic as Josie’s.

The whole conversation is sort of nice, actually.

They’re… oddly compatible.

They move on to small talk after that, which is mostly Josie explaining that her schoolwork has made it pretty much impossible to date and that she is focusing on herself more lately (which basically means she spends a lot of her free time watching TV), while Hope nods along and tells her about how busy it is at a paint store, where she works.

“Shit.” Hope swears, mid-explanation, and looks off towards the clock on the wall. “I’ve got to go.”

“Meeting other girls, Mikaelson?” Josie teases, and wow, she doesn’t know where that came from, but she is glad when Hope smirks and matches her energy.

“Of course not, _Saltzman_.” Hope puts emphasis on her last name like it’s a joke. “I’m all yours. I also have to get to work right now, so give me your number.”

Josie nearly messes up the digit order, because she can’t get past the fact that Hope is asking for her number. This actually worked. High school Josie would probably have had a heart attack by now. Hell, college Josie might have one, too.

“I’ll call you!” Hope promises, but Josie’s head is still dizzy and warm, clinging to earlier words.

_I’m all yours_.


End file.
